Do Not Give In to Evil and Division, Pope tells Myanmar Community
Voice of America
VATICAN CITY - The people of Myanmar must not despair in the face of evil or allow themselves to be divided, Pope Francis said on Sunday at a special Mass for the Myanmar community in Italy.
Myanmar's military seized power in a Feb. 1 coup, derailing the country's tentative progress towards full democracy and triggering protests that have been met with a bloody crackdown. Francis, who visited the Southeast Asian country in 2017, has repeatedly denounced the coup and on Sunday held a special service for the Myanmar faithful in St. Peter's Basilica. "Your beloved country of Myanmar is experiencing violence, conflict and repression," the pope said in a toughly worded homily, urging the congregation to draw inspiration from the final hours of Jesus Christ before his crucifixion.A vendor with an umbrella over his head throws water over the bananas on a hot summer day in Varanasi on May 27, 2024. Children run behind a truck spraying water along a street on a hot summer day in New Delhi on May 28, 2024. Roadside food vendor Atma Prakash Singh in New Delhi says standing on the hot road in the sizzling summer is a problem. (Anjana Pasricha/VOA) Ice cream vendor Jai Singh in New Delhi says he gets skin rashes due to the sizzling heat. (Anjana Pasricha/VOA) People buy air coolers from a roadside vendor on a hot summer afternoon in New Delhi on May 20, 2024, amid the ongoing heatwave.
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